March Madness Memories: Loyola vs. Illinois, 1963

Sunday’s highly anticipated contest between Illinois and Loyola will be only the third game in the history of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament to feature a pair of Illinois schools. The first was a regional final game between the same two teams on March 16, 1963, in East Lansing, Michigan.  

    

The game took place less than 24 hours after Loyola’s physically and emotionally draining 61-51 victory over Mississippi State, an all-white team whose coach and players had defied the established conventions of their home state by agreeing to play the integrated Ramblers. (We will have more about that in a future article.)

     The Illini had arrived by defeating Bowling Green, thus denying Loyola a chance to avenge one of its two regular-season losses. They were 20-5, co-champions of the Big Ten, and ranked eighth nationally. But they were no match for the Ramblers, whose swarming full-court press forced a succession of Illini turnovers and turned the game into a blowout shortly after halftime. 

     Loyola led 40-34 two minutes into the second half. Only three minutes later, the score was 53-34, and the rout was on. Loyola piled up a 28-point lead late in the second half and coasted to the finish. The final score was 79-64. In a sensational performance, small forward Jerry Harkness scored 33 points. Power forward Vic Rouse grabbed 19 rebounds and center Les Hunter 15 as the Ramblers out-rebounded Illinois 57-35. “Loyola is the greatest offensive rebounding team I’ve ever seen,” said the venerable Illini coach Harry Combes.

     As usual, Loyola coach George Ireland made very sparing use of his bench. Four starters (Harkness, Rouse, Hunter, and guard Ron Miller) played the whole game, while guard John Egan went all the way until Chuck Wood replaced him in the final minute. 

     Forward Dave Downey led the Illini with 20 points. Exactly one month earlier, he had dropped 53 on Indiana for a single-game school record that still stands.

     The No. 3-ranked Ramblers defeated No. 2 Duke and the two-time defending champions, No. 1 Cincinnati, in their next two games to win the national championship. 

 

P.S.: The only other Division I Men’s NCAA tournament game (so far) between Illinois schools was DePaul’s 75-61 victory over Illinois State in a second-round game on March 18, 1984.

 

 

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Chicago Bulls Trophy Case

It will come as no surprise that of all the honors won by the Bulls over the years, a disproportionate number were earned during the 1990s--during which time they treated Chicago fans to one of the most dominant stretches of all time by any team in any sport. It's no insult to the next Bulls world championship team to predict that (unlike their predecessors of the nineties) they will not wear the crown six times in eight years or have the greatest player of all time on their roster.

 

MICHAEL JORDAN

 

Below is a list of honors won by the Bulls since the franchise was founded in 1966.

 

Retired Numbers 

  4 - Jerry Sloan

23 - Michael Jordan

33 - Scottie Pippen 

 

World Championship Head Coaches
1991 - Phil Jackson

1992 - Phil Jackson

1993 - Phil Jackson

1996 - Phil Jackson

1997 - Phil Jackson

1998 - Phil Jackson

 

NBA Finals Most Valuable Player

1991 - Michael Jordan

1992 - Michael Jordan

1993 - Michael Jordan

1996 - Michael Jordan

1997 - Michael Jordan

1998 - Michael Jordan

 

NBA Most Valuable Player (regular season)

1988 - Michael Jordan 

1991 - Michael Jordan

1992 - Michael Jordan

1996 - Michael Jordan

1998 - Michael Jordan

2011 - Derrick Rose

NBA Rookie of the Year

1985 - Michael Jordan

2000 - Elton Brand

2009 - Derrick Rose

NBA Defensive Player of the Year
1988 - Michael Jordan
2014 - Joakim Noah

NBA Sixth Man of the Year

1996 - Toni Kukoc

2005 - Ben Gordon

J. Walter Kennedy Award (for community service)

2015 - Joakim Noah

 

NBA Leading Scorer

1987 - Michael Jordan

1988 - Michael Jordan

1989 - Michael Jordan

1990 - Michael Jordan

1991 - Michael Jordan

1992 - Michael Jordan

1993 - Michael Jordan

1996 - Michael Jordan

1997 - Michael Jordan

1998 - Michael Jordan  

 

NBA Leader in Assists

1967 - Guy Rodgers

 

NBA Leader in Rebounds

1996 - Dennis Rodman

1997 - Dennis Rodman

1998 - Dennis Rodman

NBA Coach of the Year
1967 - Johnny "Red" Kerr
1971 - Dick Motta
1996 - Phil Jackson
2011 - Tom Thibodeau

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Worth a Thousand Words: Patrick Kane

Patrick Kane played his 1,000th game for the Blackhawks last night, joining an exclusive club that already included Stan Mikita, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Bobby Hull, Eric Nesterenko, and Bob Murray. It was another in a series of milestones for Kane, who racked up his 1,000th point on January 20, 2020, and his 400th goal ten days ago, on February 28. At the relatively tender age of 32, he ranks fourth in franchise history in goals, third in assists, and fourth in points.

    

ONE OF PATRICK KANE'S MANY SENSATIONAL GOALS.

It would be hard to exaggerate Kane's importance to the franchise since he was selected first overall in the 2007 draft. In 2010 he scored the goal that gave the Hawks their first Stanley Cup in 49 years. He was also a key contributor, to say the least, when the Hawks captured the Cup again in 2013 and 2015. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 2013.

     Kane's trophy case includes the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 2008 and a raft of awards in 2016--the Art Ross Trophy as leading scorer, the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player (voted by journalists), and the Ted Lindsay Award as player of the year (voted by his peers). He was also named a first-team All-Star in 2010, 2016, and 2017. He will certainly be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

     In 2010, Kane was on the U.S. Olympic team that settled for a silver medal after losing the gold-medal game to the Canadian team that featured his friends and Hawks teammates Keith, Seabrook, and Jonathan Toews. He was the first American-born player to win the Hart or Ross trophy, and he is likely to retire--when the time comes--as the greatest American player of all time.

     This year, with Toews out of commission, Kane has taken on a more active and vocal leadership role while continuing to play with the energy, enthusiasm, and uncanny skill he has brought into each of his 1,000 regular-season and 136 playoff games.

     "As my 1,000th game approaches," Kane said this week in a recorded message to Hawks fans, "I can't help but think of you guys. These great moments are meant to be shared with friends, family, and obviously you great fans. 

     "I've dreamed of sharing this moment with you, so that's what we're going to do. When it's safe to pack the United Center with all 21,000-plus of the best fans in sports, we'll share that moment together."

 

 

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Blackhawks By the Numbers

The Blackhawks are one of the the NHL's legendary "Original Six" franchises, are in their 95th season of play, and have enjoyed a recent run in which they won the Stanley Cup three times in six years--equaling the number of times they captured the Cup in the previous 83 seasons. 

     For no particular reason, we thought it would be fun to name the greatest Blackhawks by sweater number, so here goes. (Asterisks indicate retired numbers.)

     No player ever wore No. 35 for the Blackhawks before Tony Esposito, and no one has ever worn it after him. Likewise, Patrick Kane is the first and last Hawk player who will ever wear No. 88. It also seems likely that numbers 2, 19, 50, and 81 have each been worn by the last player who will ever do so.

     Please note that there are many numbers beyond 45 that have never been worn by a Blackhawk or have been worn by very few players, none of whom made much of an impact. Those numbers are not represented below.

 

 

THE FIRST NUMBER RETIRED BY THE BLACKHAWKS.

 

  1. * Glenn Hall, G, 1958 - 1967

  2. Duncan Keith, D, 2005 - present

  3. * Pierre Pilote, D, 1955 - 1968

  4. Keith Brown, D, 1979 - 1993

  5. Phil Russell, D, 1972 - 1979

  6. Bob Murray, D, 1975 - 1990

  7. Brent Seabrook, D, 2005 - 2020

  8. Bill Mosienko, RW, 1941 - 1951

  9. * Bobby Hull, LW, 1957 - 1972

10. Patrick Sharp, LW, 2005 - 2018

11. Doug Mohns, LW/D, 1964 - 1971

12. Pat "Whitey" Stapleton, D, 1965 - 1973

13. Alex Zhamnov, C, 1996 - 2004

14. Doug Bentley, LW, 1939 - 1952

15. Eric Nesterenko, RW, 1956 - 1972

16. Chico Maki, RW, 1961 - 1976

17. Ken Wharram, RW/C, 1951 - 1969

18. * Denis Savard, C, 1980 - 1990, 1994 - 1997

19. Jonathan Toews, C, 2007 - present

20. Doug Jarrett, D, 1964 - 1975

21. * Stan Mikita, C, 1958 - 1980

22. Grant Mulvey, RW, 1974 - 1983

23. Behn Wilson, D, 1983 - 1988

24. Doug Wilson, D, 1977 - 1991

25. Cam Barker, D, 2005 - 2010

26. Steve Sullivan, RW, 1999 - 2004

27. Jeremy Roenick, C, 1989 - 1996

28. Steve Larmer, RW, 1981 - 1993

29. Bryan Bickell, LW, 2007 - 2016

30. Ed Belfour, G, 1988 - 1997

31. Antti Niemi, G, 2009 - 2010

32. Kris Versteeg, RW, 2007 - 2010, 2013 - 2015

33. Dirk Graham, RW, 1987 - 1995

34. Tony Horacek, LW, 1992 - 1995

35. * Tony Esposito, G, 1969 - 1984

36. Dave Bolland, C, 2007 - 2013

37. Adam Burish, RW, 2006 - 2010

38. Cristobal Huet, G, 2008 - 2010

39. Nikolai Khabibulin, G, 2005 - 2009, 2013

40. Darren Pang, G, 1985, 1987 - 1989

41. Jocelyn Thibault, G, 1998 - 2004

42. Jon Klemm, D, 2001 - 2003

43. James Wisniewski, D, 2005 - 2009

44. Patrick Poulin, C, 1993 - 1996

46. Colin Fraser, C, 2008 - 2010

50. Corey Crawford, G, 2006 - 2020

51. Brian Campbell, D, 2008 - 2011, 2016 - 2017

52. Dustin Byfuglien, D, 2005 - 2010

55. Eric Daze, RW, 1995 - 2005

56. Erik Gustafsson, D, 2015 - 2020

57. Trevor van Riemsdyk, D, 2014 - 2017

60. Collin Delia, G, 2018 - present

65. Andrew Shaw, C, 2011 - 2016, 2019 - present

72. Artemi Panarin, LW, 2015 - 2017

77. Kirby Dach, C, 2019 - present

81. Marian Hossa, RW, 2009 - 2017

82. Tomas Kopecky, C, 2009 - 2011

86. Tuevo Teravainen, C, 2014 - 2016

88. Patrick Kane, RW, 2007 - present

92. Bernie Nichols, C, 1994 - 1996

93. Doug Gilmour, C, 1998 - 2000

 

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'Twas Fifty Years Ago: Chicago Sports Memories of 1971

 In 1971, two of the all-time great Chicago athletes called it a career within three weeks of each other. Ernie Banks played the last of his 2,528 games for the Cubs on September 26, and Gale Sayers played the last of his 68 games for the Bears on October 17.

GALE SAYERS

 

 

Sadly, both players finished up as mere shadows of their former selves. Banks, 40, had only 83 at-bats for the season, hitting .193 with three homers and six runs batted in. Sayers, just 28, played in two games and rushed for 38 yards on 13 carries before conceding that his latest comeback from a succession of knee surgeries had run its course. Neither man would have to wait long for the call to join his sport's hall of fame. 

TONY ESPOSITO

The Blackhawks took an immediate liking to their new home in the NHL's Western Division, where they were the only established franchise among six four-year-old expansion teams. The Hawks won 26 and tied 5 of their first 37 games. They did not lose on home ice until January 6, compiling a home record of 16-0-2 prior to that. They ended up at 49-20-9, racking up 107 points to win the division going away. Mainstays of the club were goalie Tony Esposito, center Stan Mikita, forwards Bobby Hull and Dennis Hull, and defensemen Bill White and Pat "Whitey" Stapleton.
     In the playoffs, the Hawks dispatched the Philadelphia Flyers (four games to none) and the New York Rangers (four games to three) to advance to the Stanley Cup Final against the Montreal Canadiens. The Hawks won the first two games at home, dropped the next two at Montreal, then won again at home--in a 2-0 shutout by Esposito--to draw tantalizingly close to capturing the Cup. But the Canadiens won the next game in Montreal to even the series again.
     In Game 7 at the Stadium on May 18, Dennis Hull tallied in the last minute of the first period on a power play and Danny O'Shea lit the lamp seven minutes into the second to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. The home team was closing in on the championship, and the old barn was rocking. Alas, the Canadiens scored three unanswered goals--two in the second period and one in the third--to win 3-2. As Montreal captain Jean Beliveau hoisted the Cup, the standing-room-only crowd of heartbroken Hawks fans politely applauded the champions. The trophy that Beliveau held in his hands would remain beyond the Hawks' grasp for 39 more years.
 

CHET WALKER

In their fifth year of existence, the Bulls had their first 50-win season in 1970-71. They played an intense, physical style of ball that mirrored the pugnacious personality of their coach, Dick Motta, and they had the Stadium turnstiles spinning. Forwards Bob Love and Chet Walker were All-Stars, guard Jerry Sloan was named second-team All-Defense, and Motta was voted Coach of the Year. Although the Bulls lost a hard-fought first-round playoff series to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games, with the home team winning each game, the future was still bright. They won 50 or more games in each of the next three seasons, and they proved that a pro basketball franchise could not only survive but thrive in Chicago.

 

FERGIE JENKINS

The Cubs plodded to an 83-79 mark in Banks's 19th and final season, finishing tied for third place in the National League East, 14 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. The lanky 28-year-old righthander Fergie Jenkins went 24-13 with a 2.77 earned-run average and 277 strikeouts to earn the Cy Young Award. It was the fifth of six consecutive seasons in which Jenkins won 20 or more games. Jenkins was joined at the All-Star Game by second baseman Glenn Beckert, shortstop Don Kessinger, and third baseman Ron Santo. (Jenkins and Santo were among 19 future Hall of Famers who played in the ’71 midsummer classic, the most star-studded baseball game of all time.)

     A late-season clubhouse meeting almost turned into a free-for-all when manager Leo Durocher made some comments about Santo that caused the latter to attack him. After Santo was restrained and order restored, first baseman Joe Pepitone and pitcher Milt Pappas also got earfuls from Durocher, who then threatened to quit but was talked out of it by general manager John Holland.

WILBUR WOOD

Having bottomed out with a 56-106 record the year before, the White Sox welcomed a new manager, Chuck Tanner, a new broadcaster, Harry Caray, and a return to respectability. The Sox finished at 79-83, and attendance at Comiskey Park nearly doubled. Tanner and pitching coach Johnny Sain converted knuckleballing lefty reliever Wilbur Wood into a starter, and the experiment proved a success, to say the least. Wood went 22-13 with a 1.91 ERA while logging 334 innings. He finished third in Cy Young balloting and established himself as the South Siders' ace for the next several years. Wood and 25-year-old third baseman Bill Melton, who led the American League (and tied his own club record) with 33 home runs, represented the Sox in the All-Star Game.

 

DICK BUTKUS

After several years of mediocrity, the Bears galvanized fans by winning six of their first nine games. On November 14 against the Washington Redskins, a 40-yard touchdown run by Cyril Pinder tied the score 15-15 late in the fourth quarter. On the extra-point attempt, the snap went awry, but holder Bobby Douglass (also the Bears' quarterback) picked up the ball, scrambled around a while, and then fired a strike to Dick Butkus (of all people) in the corner of the end zone to give the Bears a dramatic 16-15 win.
     At 6-3, the Bears seemed headed for the playoffs, but they lost the next five games--four of them by very lopsided scores--to finish 6-8. Head coach Jim Dooley was fired after compiling a record of 20-36 for four seasons. He was replaced by Abe Gibron.
     The Bears' game at Detroit on October 24 was marred by the on-field death of Lions receiver Chuck Hughes from an apparent heart attack.

 

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